Transmission of data by phone or network cable lines is very popular with users of electronic communications devices such as computers, portable personal digital assistants, and the like. In general, users find that the ability to freely transfer data and information over a telephone line or network cable increases productivity.
Standards have been established for many of the components involved in such transmissions. One important component which has been standardized is connectors. The connectors, typically in conjunction with associated cables, provide electrical interconnection pathways between communications devices and telephone and/or network lines. One popular connector system in the United States is the RJ-11 miniature modular plug connector system. The RJ-11 approach utilizes six pins and is typically used between a telephone line and the telephone itself. The RJ-11 connector system has two main components: an RJ-11 socket (female) and an RJ-11 plug (male).
Typically, transmission of data via phone or network cable lines involves the use of a modem at each end of the transmission. Modems typically reconfigure binary data from a central processing unit and transmit the reconfigured data in analog form through a connector, such as a RJ-11 connector, into the telephone or network line. Increasingly, modems are located within the housing of the electronic communications device. Typically, the socket for the connector is exposed on or through some exterior surface of the housing of the electronic communications device. The most typical arrangement is for the socket to be designed and oriented to accept the corresponding plug almost completely into the housing in a front-first (or "nose-first") orientation that results in the plug and the associated cable extending perpendicularly from the nearby face of the housing.
However, electronic communications devices, and the communications cards associated therewith, are getting smaller and thinner. As such, the size of an RJ-11 or other modular connector socket may exceed the available height restrictions for internal components. Various approaches have been taken to address this problem. One popular approach is that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,404 to Aldous et al. and its progeny (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,336,099; 5,338,210; 5,547,401; 5,727,972). The Aldous approach uses a retractable socket having an aperture therein and contact wires, or leads, arrayed along one wall of the aperture. The retractable socket is smaller in height than a "regular" socket and typically engages only a band-shaped portion of the connector plug. Attached to the retractable plug, and providing an indirect electrical path between the leads and the electrical circuit, is a flexible cable (such as a flexible ribbon cable) that is anchored at one end to the device's electronics and moves at the other end with the retractable socket. The electrical signal(s) from the communications cable is communicated through contacts in the plug to the leads, from the leads to the flexible cable, from the flexible cable to the device's electrical circuits. Due to the fact that one end of the flexible cable moves in and out with the retractable socket, the flexible cable undergoes repeated flexing, sometimes leading to failure. In addition, the flexible cable takes up valuable space that could otherwise be used for additional electronics. Thus, while the Aldous approach partially reduces the space required for the socket, still more space reduction is desirable in light of the increasing quantity and complexity of electronics being placed within device housings.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a compact connector socket which requires little space within the housing of the electronic communications device. Such a socket should employ fixed contacts (which may be flexible) which directly connect to the electrical circuits of the electronic communications device without an intervening flexible cable. Further, it is desirable, but not required, that such a socket be available in embodiments that allow for the cable associated with the plug to extend at an angle roughly parallel to the nearby face of the housing.